Sloppy play, loss sum up USD season

USD's game against Davidson — and the Toreros' entire season, really — could be summed up with one play in yesterday's 34-27 Pioneer Football League loss at Torero Stadium.

Davidson was three yards from scoring midway through the second quarter when Wildcats quarterback Michael Blanchard ran to his right looking for the end zone. But Blanchard fumbled before he could gain any ground and the loose ball spun toward USD's 10-yard line with three or four wide-eyed Toreros in close proximity.

“Scoop and score” is what Toreros coaches teach in such situations, and with 90 yards of open field in front of them, this seemed like the perfect occasion to employ such a technique.

But the Toreros had trouble with the “scoop” part and linebacker Loka Kanongataa was whistled for illegally batting the ball.

Instead of a momentum-shifting touchdown or, at the very least, possession of the ball, Davidson kept it and two plays later the Wildcats converted a field goal that tied the game 17-17.

“Scoop and score, that's what we teach from Day 1,” said USD head coach Ron Caragher. “We want to get a touchdown out of it. We didn't execute that properly.”

USD (3-6, 2-5 PFL) suffered its fourth straight defeat in the loss to Davidson (3-6, 3-4) and it was poor execution that torpedoed the Toreros.

“I've felt that about three or four of the games this year,” said Caragher. “There's so many of them that could have gone either way.

“We had too many penalties (against Davidson). Dropped balls. Failure to execute and make routine plays. At this point in the season we shouldn't be doing it.”

USD mistakes helped Davidson to three of its first-half scores.

USD quarterback Bo Stompro threw an interception in the first quarter that Davidson's Peter Kidwell returned 30 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Wildcats lead five minutes into the game.

“Wrong read,” said Stompro. “That's completely on me.”

A USD kickoff that went out of bounds gave Davidson the ball at the 40-yard line on another touchdown drive that provided a 14-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Then came the aforementioned batted ball.

USD, which trailed 27-17 at the start of the fourth quarter, still had a chance to overcome all the mistakes. Stompro led field goal and touchdown drives in the final period that moved the Toreros within a touchdown, and he was moving them down the field for a potential tying score in the game's final minute.

A pass interference call on Davidson put the ball at the Wildcats' 31-yard line. But four straight pass attempts by Stompro missed their mark. And that was that.

“We've practiced those plays and made them perfectly,” said Stompro, a freshman making just his second start. “We just didn't execute.”